Rise of Rurik

A great deal of booty flowed into Balmerk society, the triumphant heroes were hailed, and the tribe's youth were eager to take part in the next expedition.

The returning warriors spoke of their experiences in Britain, touting their strength and belittling Northumbria's weakness. They especially praise the local fertile land and mild climate, and the farmland reclaimed by the locals is like a treasure waiting for the Balmers to accept.

Young people are suffocating to explore, and some older people understand the risks of this expedition.

The looting of trophies, the capture of a large number of women, and the knowledge of distant lands, the price paid for these was the death of more than 300 young people for various reasons.

There are so many Balmers in the Narvik Fjord!

If you die on a long voyage, the deceased must have failed the test of God.

Only cowards would refuse to expand abroad because of the risk of shipwrecks and battles. Young people were once unable to find the direction of expansion because of their narrow vision. Now the situation has changed.

Biyonni has a great reputation. He is the great hero of the Balmers. His brothers follow him. In the future, they can go to the British Isles to make a fortune, kidnap a woman or two, have a lot of children, and live a happy life. Boundless.

Returning, the leader Magnut was anxious for all the family leaders to discuss the receipt of the expedition in the slightly old council of the tribe.

Young people support Biyonni's illustrious martial arts, but the noble leaders of these tribes know that the key to their victory lies in the correct command of Rurik of Rus.

They were blowing rainbow farts to each other in a happy atmosphere, as if all the fighting heroes were sitting in the room.

Finally, Biyonni inevitably talks about the shipwreck on his return.

"Based on this matter, we urgently need to get a big ship." He looked into the eyes of the leader's father, "Do you still need to decide this matter?"

"Me? My attitude is to buy and never hesitate."

After saying that, the leader of Magnute turned his head and glanced at his daughter Noren, who was lying on Rurik's lap, and asked directly, "You have already discussed the matter of buying a boat. Now we have got a large sum of money. Money, you don't have to work hard to make salt to exchange it."

"No, our covenant is still valid."

"Oh? Did you buy the Ross ship,

Must be limited to purchase with salt? Maybe our convention can be tweaked a bit. "

"Of course it is, and I'm not a stubborn person. However, we Ross need your good salt. When you run out of coins, salt is your currency, at least I agree."

Magnut nodded, knowing he didn't need to say more.

He sighed softly. "Rurik, my boy. When are you going to return?"

"Just a few days, maybe two or three days."

"So anxious?"

"Master Chief..."

"No!" Magnute pretended to be angry with a smile, "You're going to call me father! I wanted to keep you for a while, but it really doesn't seem like it?"

"Yes. We have to pass through the Danes on our way here. I'm afraid it will take another twenty days to sail back to Roseburg. Father, I know you will not bear Noren. But if I delay, the ship will be a sea of ​​ice. Obstruction. I'm going home before the sea freezes."

The ocean freezes? This is unimaginable for the Balmers who sit on the ice-free port in northern Europe.

The son-in-law Rurik has greatly helped all the Balmers. It is human nature to retain the friendship of the landlord in order to entertain them, and it is inappropriate to retain them at the wrong time.

Magnut thought for a while: "Then get ready. Since you are going to pass through the Danish territory, you need more soldiers to defend. Well, I will choose fifty men for you and follow your ship to Ross. ."

"This..." Rurik instantly thought that behind this suggestion, it was the expectation of an old father who doted on his daughter.

"Father, I will not treat Noren badly. I don't need a lot of guards by her side, my Ross Principality is strong and safe."

"But she has to have some maids too."

"It doesn't have to. Because of her, she will be living with my parents. My mother will treat her as her own daughter, and you don't have to worry about her having a bad time."

This was heartwarming enough, and Magnut still shook his head, "I believe in your character, but your ship still has to pass through Denmark. You sank a hundred of their fishing boats when you came, wouldn't they take revenge."

"I have no fear. My big ship will easily knock over any enemy ship."

How was Magnut persuaded by such optimistic rhetoric?

His stubbornness had to make Rurik think about it, and he simply decided to do it.

"That's it." Rurik raised his head, considering his situation, and said, "I like the young people in Balmerk, they are excellent warriors. I need to expand my mercenary guard, and I will personally The port recruits fifty warriors who intend to go to Ross, and from now on they will fight for me and guard your daughter."

"That's good." Magnut patted his thigh without any worries.

In fact, for Noren, she naturally had no worries about going to Rose alone. This was her destiny as a woman.

On the second day of his return, Rurik set up a recruitment list near the berth of the Avlora.

In just one day, fifty new mercenaries were recruited.

This matter Rurik almost assigned the mercenary captain Yevlo to complete the matter, and the result was quite remarkable.

Until evening, Rurik appeared at the berth of the big ship, inspecting the new mercenaries with a strong sense of freshness.

Yevlo hurried to report: "Everything is done properly."

"Are they all the most ordinary men? Are they all poor people who want to leave their homes?"

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"Yes, my lord. They are almost all fishermen, and they have been helping the owner of the boat. They are not the subordinates of some nobles. These people have nothing but strength."

Rurik nodded, and he looked up at these men again, feeling that he was indeed the soldier he wanted.

He asked Yevlo again, "Have you told them about our treatment?"

"Part of it was said, and everyone was very happy."

"Of course. To eat and wear mine, I have to pay them and even find them women."

Yevluo immediately emphasized in a low voice, "My lord, I didn't say anything about finding a woman."

"Well, my biggest concern is their loyalty."

"I'll train them." Yevro patted his chest emphasized.

"No, they need a fight to prove themselves."

Yevro was taken aback, "Sir, you said that Ross won't fight this year, do you plan to..."

"Maybe, but if we can, we'll have to build up our strength for a while. We're going through Danish control, and a fight is almost certain. Equip these guys now, and you quickly train them to use torsion slingshots and catapults. Also, they The person who can use bow and arrow will pick it out for me immediately."

"As per your order! Your lord, when will we return?"

"We will have a rest tomorrow, and we will return the next morning."

Rurik originally intended to leave quickly, but Noren was married to Rose after all, and her family wanted to bring a dowry to her daughter.

Rurik has seen those dowries. In terms of commodity value, they are far less precious than the "luxury products" produced by Ross, but for this girl, they are devoted to the love of their parents.

Of these pretense only two instruments were of the greatest interest to Rurik.

Ten bone flutes made of eagle legs, and a small cowhide drum. These musical instruments are most suitable for ritual activities. Musical instruments are musical instruments. Noren's tone is really good. With these musical instruments, Rurik felt that he could ask her to use a winter's time to number his subordinates from A to J. A Slavic maid, all trained as musicians.

On the afternoon of the day before Dingding, the sea conditions in the fjords tended to stabilize. Even if the heroes triumphed, only a few would get the spoils.

On the morning of this day, the priests of Balmerk dispersed and held more than 30 weddings for the men of the tribe.

The warriors who participated in the expedition brought the newly acquired women, most of whom were 14- or 15-year-old Northumbrian girls. The groom in Balmerk pulled the crying bride and completed the Viking-style wedding under the auspices of the priest. .

The brides lamented their fate in the kingdom of barbarians, and most of all, accepting barbarian marriage was tantamount to betraying their god. They all found that they had to swear to a barbarian god, and they really had to compromise because of the status quo.

The priests are extremely busy these days. They are expected to preside over four hundred weddings in a few days. Even if the ceremony is forced to be simplified, it still takes a lot of time to organize.

They will still be busy in the afternoon.

But people in the port area suddenly discovered that the Ross ship named Avlora suddenly pulled anchor and set sail.

Is Rurik of Ross going to return? No way! Isn't the promised date tomorrow?

Some fishing boats suspended fishing. The fishermen felt that the big waves from the big boat were full of charm. They watched closely and knew that this was not a departure at all, but a military exercise!

A small and badly damaged fishing boat, it should have ended up being dragged ashore and chopped with an axe, as the owner's winter firewood.

The rotten ship was bought, and it was placed on the sea to sway with the waves.

The Avrora was cruising by its side, and Yevro was already commanding the newly recruited brother to manipulate heavy weapons.

"The essentials have been told to you! Aim at the target boat! Shoot!"

Yevro gave the order that one of the five torsion slingshots on the port side refused to fire?

He hurriedly walked over, grabbed the neck of the mercenary who was responsible for pulling the latch, and shouted sharply, "Why? Why don't you shoot?"

The young and ignorant mercenary warrior was suddenly stunned and muttered, "Sir, are we really going to launch a piece of iron?"

"if not?"

"Iron is precious, and we shouldn't waste it."

"Just because of this? You don't have to worry about this matter!" After saying that, Yevro pushed the person away, lifted the "shoe tail" of the torsion slingshot and gently pulled the latch, and the cast iron projectile flew into the fishing boat.

Only one of the five projectiles hit Yevlo, and the old fishing boat had begun to flood.

He shouted: "You must read and listen to my orders! I am like your war chief, your family head. It is our duty to keep Duke Ross safe and fight for him! You will all be rich. But , any one of you who refuses to execute, or even hesitates, will be punished."

Yevro ordered the hesitant man to be tied to the mainmast, and then ordered his fellow villagers, holding a "spirit infusion stick", to beat his calf ten times as punishment.

Yevluo couldn't help but sigh, these guys are really trying hard to ram the legs of their fellow villagers with wooden sticks. Maybe they're all doing their best?

"You have seen it! In peacetime, your hesitation will suffer from flesh and blood, but on the battlefield, any hesitation will kill you! The weapons you control can sink enemy ships and knock off enemy heads. You don't want to. I think iron is very precious. Now, keep shooting for me and sink that target!"

Rurik had prepared a large number of cast iron bullets when he set off. He really came prepared, and he recovered most of the cast iron bullets after the battle in Britain, so that Yevlo had the opportunity to squander it now.

This extravagance is not to hit all the projectiles, as the so-called cannon fires a thousand taels of gold, and the use of any long-range weapon is directly burning money.

Rurik hopes that the newly recruited brothers will become masters of heavy weapons in an instant, which is obviously unrealistic.

They must immediately put into training, and everything starts with actual combat. Rurik authorized Yevlo to shoot fifty cast iron bullets, so that each mercenary soldier can shoot once, and a mere target boat is not enough.

Even if these men were inexperienced, they found that the heavy weapon was not difficult to use, and soon the target ship was sunk.

A large amount of water was blown out on the sea, and the projectile was finally knocked out.

Their training attracted a group of fishing boats to watch, and the fishermen watched helplessly as the unmanned target boat sank gradually in a large amount of water.

People were shocked, they couldn't imagine that a ship could be directly sunk by some kind of weapon.

Finally, the day to return.

Noren woke up in a daze, she slept on the soft leather floor, scratched her palm at will, and touched the face of the person beside her. She subconsciously grabbed it and tucked Rurik's ponytail.

"Don't pull my hair."

Noren suddenly sobered up, coquettishly, "You pressed my hair last night too."

"It's already dawn." Rurik quickly sat up, "We'll be leaving soon, you... say goodbye to your parents."

"Finally I have to go, okay..."

Even if it was his own destiny, Noren left the boudoir with mixed feelings.

She hugged her mother Imbjög, kissed her father's face, and drank a glass of ale with her two brothers at home.

Bjorn could see his sister's sadness, but it wasn't a real goodbye.

"Follow Rurik and give birth to a nephew for me in a few years." Bjorn's encouragement made her sad and shy.

Floki brought real comfort, "Sister, don't worry about it? Every winter in the future, we will take the road of ice and snow to Ross. You go to Ross first, and my elder brother and I will go there in about two months."

Noren was in a much better mood, so he wore a large flower crown woven by pink heather and walked out of the home where he had lived for nearly eleven years.

When she boarded the Avrora named after "Dream Aurora", her identity became Ross's woman.

Rurik said goodbye to Balmerk's friends with his arms around Noren's waist.

The leader, the Magnut family, had strong expectations for the couple, but the couple looked childish, and the scene was amazing.

Those who came from the settlements in the fjords, who gathered on the flats of the quays, also drove their boats to the sea.

The leaders of the various families personally came to see Rurik off, expecting Ross's ship to be turned upside down again, leaving not only the ships belonging to the Balmers, but also a large amount of oriental cargo.

A arduous and dreamy voyage finally came to an end, and it was also a very crucial ending. Even if there was a great possibility of a fierce battle with the Danes in the future, Rurik was not afraid.

The Avrolla set sail, and she zigzagged with the wind towards the mouth of the fjord. With a large number of ships behind him, it was as if the Avlora once again led a huge fleet to carry out an expedition.

This time, Rurik and his beloved ship, as powerful lone rangers at sea, will take the fastest route back to Roseburg.